Vers La Loire

J9

The next morning we Pat made us lunch for the day and cooked a whole bunch of extra crepes as well.

Our visit to Pat was endless fun and fascination and we all got on like a house on fire. We certainly hope that Pat can make it down under one day for us to return the hospitality.

The morning was bitterly cold. We followed a really simple route but still managed to get lost. Along the way we stopped for lunch beside a

school where we made good use of the bicycle sheds for Sally to practice her guitar.

Laval is the home of Xavier. We have chatted for about a year on Skype. Half an hour in French and half an hour in English. It is always hard for me but it does sharpen me up and for that I am very grateful. So it is two correspondents in two days.

Xavier gave us a guided tour of the town. Even at 6:30 at night, a town smaller than New Plymouth was alive and buzzing. The two chateaux side by side made an interesting contrast and in the old town we found an artisan brewer.

For dinner we had lamb cooked whereby you place all the ingredients in a casserole and seal the lid using a layer of pastry. This keeps in 100% of the moisture and you cook it for 7 hours. Fantastic. For dessert we had a locally made pear tart covered in chocolate. We were both full to the brim and went to bed well replete. Xavier was so kind and he went out of his way to entertain, and feed us.

J10

We left Xavier's early in the morning and took the haulage path alongside the Mayenne river which has been converted to a cycle way. Unfortunately after 10 kms we struck a patch which had recently flooded.
At first the mud made cycling difficult so we walked. Then the mud made walking impossible so I loosened off the brake to allow room for the mud to move. After about 1 km we were able to stop and clean the bikes as best we could. Any mud larks out there will be saying "What else did you expect."

We headed back onto the road. It was very hilly and it followed a route we would not have otherwise chosen. We found ourselves on a National Route and expected lots of traffic. But it was almost deserted and we had a wide shoulder to use.

We arrive into Le Lion D'Angers a little earlier than planned, and stopped at Guenaelle's for the night. She is yet another wonderful French woman who is quietly spoken but exudes a warmth and a je ne sais quoi. The evening was spent eating organic food all of which was sourced from within 20 kms.
We learned that Bretagne is one of the world's biggest producers of Kiwifruit mainly because it is always windy and that prevents the climate becoming too humid. She also told us that her parents did not speak French at all until they went to school. They spoke the local dialect which today is making a resurgence in Bretagne. All the road signs are in both languages.

Guenaelle's home is yet another remarkable old house, hundreds of years old and with a huge, very French country style kitchen. It is such an honour to stay in people's houses and we learn so much from our hosts and live a little bit more of the lifestyle.

J11.

It was very cold in the morning ( there is a pattern forming here) and we departed for the town of Le Plessis-Macé where there is a delightful chateau which was built on the foundations of an earlier one.

We pushed on to Angers where , as usual, we got lost. But luckily we found a tram line so followed it into town. The Maine river was flooded so many cycle ways were out of action. Angers has a stunning

chateau whose walls are made from 2 different coloured stones giving it a unique appearance. The walls are massively thick and it looked completely impregnable.

Finally it was time to start heading East. We had to follow the inland route out of town. And again we got lost. But after all these years my boy scout training came to the fore. I reasoned that the sun was in the south and slightly west so if we kept the sun on our right we would eventually find the route again.

It worked! And there was La Loire. It is masive. It seemd like half a kilometre across. We decided to follow the road where both of us almost got sucked under an enormous truck. So at the next opportunity we re-joined the cycle route which meandered along small back roads.

At the town of Saint Mathurin-sur-Loire we check our phones to find the actual address of our host.

Horror.

It was not on the maps on our phone. It was on Google maps but we needed wi-fi for that. We asked several locals and one looked it up on his phone. Again nothing. By now it was getting dark and cold. At last an old man told us where to find the road and luckily we turned up at our hosts for the night. Didier and Chandelle only joined up to warm showers one week earlier so were very happy that we were their first guests.

Sorry to keep boring you all out there in reader land, but yet again we had a wonderful French meal and a good hot tisane. The house was heated by a massive upright ( 1m high) wood burner . You opened the top and could drop in 600 mm length bits of wood. And you could cook on it as well. I want one but do not actually have anywhere to put it!
The evening was spent discussing the best routes to follow the next day and Didier made a photocopy of a map for us to use the next day.

J12

Breakfast was taken early, so we able to get away in good time. The jams were made with fruits from their garden and the blackberries had been gathered the same way as in New Zealand.
We stopped at the local village to buy some fruit at the market and crossed the bridge to the southern side of the Loire. The cycle route was easy to follow except I took us off the easy road and onto a hilly bit for several kilometres. I was not popular.

Along the way we visited the caves of a local vineyard and Sally sampled the wines before choosing the bottle she wanted. We lunched beside the Loire at Saumur then proceeded to La Maçonnière for the night. Along the way we passed many chateaux and many villages carved out of the cliff face. They would have got very little sun.

Our hôtel looked like an old chateau, and we took the chance to catch up on a lot of paperwork before we hit the sack.